Governor: I Never Sold My Soul

August 01, 1985|By Storer Rowley, Chicago Tribune.

JUNEAU, ALASKA — A grim-faced Gov. Bill Sheffield fought calmly and carefully for his political life Wednesday in testimony before a Senate impeachment hearing, declaring he never sold his ``soul`` to special interests.

Sheffield, 57, a self-made millionaire and owner of Alaska`s largest hotel chain, told a packed Senate committee room he never felt obligated to do favors for his friend Lenny Arsenault because Arsenault raised $92,000 to help Sheffield retire a 1982 campaign debt.

In politics, the first-term Democratic governor said, ``it`s just an unwritten law that you don`t go around promising people things because they support you. I don`t do it. . . . I don`t think a politician goes around promising his soul to everyone, and I didn`t.``

Sheffield is accused of political cronyism and lying to a grand jury in connection with a state lease that allegedly was steered by his office to a building in Fairbanks owned in part by Arsenault.

Sheffield took questions from Alaska`s 20 senators Wednesday in his second day of testimony before a state Senate panel that is considering recommending his impeachment on charges of official misconduct and perjury.

His memory, which is the subject of much of the controversy, remained cloudy and imprecise on some specific matters.

The Senate Rules Committee is considering whether to recommend articles of impeachment to the full 20-member, Republican-controlled Senate after Sheffield`s testimony this week.

A grand jury investigating the Sheffield administration`s handling of a $9.1 million lease for state office space in downtown Fairbanks recommended in a July 1 report that the legislature convene in special session to consider impeaching the governor.

The grand jury did not indict Sheffield, but it charged that he improperly steered the lease to a building in which Arsenault owned a 2 percent interest. The panel called Sheffield ``unfit`` for office and complained that he was less than ``candid`` in his testimony before it.

Sheffield has repeatedly said he does not remember a crucial Oct. 2, 1984, meeting in his office with his chief of staff at the time, John Shively, and Arsenault, who lobbied hard for his building to get the lease.

The grand jury concluded that Shively, acting on Sheffield`s behalf after that meeting, had ordered changes in the specifications and occupancy date of the lease to circumvent the competitive bidding process and award a sole-source contract to the building. The lease has since been voided.

Shively, who was compelled to testify under a grant of immunity, told the grand jury that the meeting took place and that he later lied to prosecutors and destroyed documents in an effort to spare the governor embarrassment. Shively resigned July 10.

On Tuesday, Sheffield again said he did not remember the Oct. 2 meeting, but quickly added that ``it`s highly probable`` it took place. He also said he never ordered Shively to have the lease specifications changed and was unaware he did so.

Sheffield was questioned sharply by Senate chief counsel Sam Dash, former chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. Dash laid out the scenario of the meeting, and Sheffield interjected:

``You see the problem, Mr. Dash, is I can`t remember that meeting. And I have testified to that and I`ve looked up the records. I`ve wracked my brain. If I could have recalled that meeting, we probably wouldn`t be here tonight.`` The full Senate could vote on articles of impeachment this week, but a two-thirds majority, or 14 of the 20, is required for approval. Many here consider that prospect unlikely, but if that happens, the House would hold a special session to, in effect, try the governor. The process could take months.